thanks, Captain
by the sleepyhead
Summary: in which Luffy and Zoro recalls the day they met, and everyone else joins in on the fun. takes place before the crew enters the New World.


He's sitting on the railing of the Thousand Sunny, facing the wide expanse of the blue, blue ocean laid out in front of him, eyes trained on the calm waves gently rocking the ship back and forth. He feels Usopp growing heavier and heavier against his side by the second, snoring away with his fishing rod limp in his hands. He hears Brook, playing a slow song on his violin, and the tell-tales of a new invention from Franky's workshop; above all, he can sense the strong presence of his first mate somewhere behind him, a little ways off to the right, lying on the grassy deck and leaning up against the railing as well.

Luffy is silent for a moment before he says, "Hey, Zoro?"

Zoro exhales, and raises an eyebrow, his eyes shut. "Hm?"

"You ever think about how far we've come?"

There is a pause. The swordsman tilts his head back and opens his eyes to look at the sky. He says nothing for a while, and then, "Sometimes."

Luffy laughs a little. "I was remembering the first time I met you. Do you remember?"

"Of course I do," comes the gruff reply, but Zoro is smiling fondly now as he recalls. "Some random kid jumpin' outta nowhere and demanding I join his crew, then almost commits suicide in front of me and ends up still alive. And _then_ tells the world he's gonna be the Pirate King." He smirks at the memory. "How could I forget?"

Luffy laughs again, unfazed when Usopp whines and shushes him. "I can't believe you were gonna die that day! I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't set sail the same day, too!"

"I wasn't gonna die," Zoro grumbles. "Just hungry, 's all."

"Still, it was a great day for me!" Luffy turns to look at Zoro. "I'm glad I met you!"

The swordsman says nothing but smiles, closing his eyes once more.

"Don't you think it's kinda cool, Zoro? It was just you and me, and that small fishing boat for like, a week or something," Luffy continues, a thoughtful look on his face, "and now we've got us seven more friends! And this huge, amazing ship! You ever think about that?"

Zoro looks up at his captain, squinting a little at the sun behind his head. "Yeah."

"I can't believe all that's happened so far!" Usopp shifts a little on Luffy's shoulder, who doesn't seem to notice. "We've fought so many people! Made so many friends! Seen so many things! And we're not even in the New World yet! I can't wait!"

Zoro can't stop grinning. "Hm."

"Zoro?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for being my friend," Luffy beams at him, his smile almost blinding with happiness, "and stickin' with me since day one!"

Zoro breathes in the fresh air and takes in the smell of the sea, and feels the gentle breeze on his skin. In his mind, he is going through every single adventure he's been thrown into so far, and he has a lot to say about it all to his captain. However, Zoro returns an equally bright smile back to Luffy and simply says, "No problem, captain."

Then they find themselves lost and absorbed in recollections of their previous exploits, laughing over things that shouldn't have been funny, and arguing over whom usually got them all into trouble – _"I'm not the idiot who was caught by a _bird_ and got carried away in the first place!" "We were hungry!"_ – and neither of them noticing that the others have poked their heads out of their rooms to see what's all the commotion about. Usopp has stirred from his slumber long since then, and is wide awake now, listening in on their story-telling and occasionally adding his own thoughts in – _"Yeah? Well Zoro wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for _the Great Usopp-sama_ to bring down –" "We haven't met you yet, idiot!"_ – and then Nami has wandered over as well, curious as to how in the world Luffy had found and convinced Zoro to join him in the first place. Chopper has made his way across the deck, with Franky close behind, and one by one the entire crew found themselves sitting around the captain and the first mate.

They're sharing and exchanging stories and adventures they've had throughout their journey so far, from ones before they sailed out to sea with Luffy, and those from back home. They find out how Luffy has met and saved each and every one of them, and complain about how he's also gotten them all into heaps of trouble, but none of them can hide the undying love and affection for their young captain, who has changed each and every one of them and still hasn't realized it yet. Chopper gasps when he hears about Luffy almost getting executed, and Brook _yohohoho_'s at the story of them declaring war against the world.

Zoro shifts against the railing of the Thousand Sunny and closes his eyes once more, tilting his face towards the darkening sky. Around him, his friends are laughing and scolding their captain; they are happy, alive and safe. And he simply knows that, when Luffy is finally King, they will gather around once more and there will be even better stories to share. He knows that none of them regrets joining this unruly, wild crew that has now become a family.

Zoro takes in the salty air and the feel of the ship rocking back and forth, and smiles.

He's glad he met Luffy, too.

* * *

><p>I really shouldn't be writing one-shots when I'm not even done with JBT. But I'm on it, I really am! I haven't been having as much time as I thought I'd have even after school. I'm not done with it yet, hopefully. Also, there will be huge changes to JBT, so stick around!<p>

Sorry for the cheeeeeeeeeeeeesy ending! I've been trying not to scream at how Luffy and Zoro have just been together since _forever _and I couldn't contain my feelz so – well, this happened.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated!


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